Flashlights are well known devices that provide a portable source of light for illuminating a chosen area. A variety of hand held flashlights are commercially available. These devices range from square shaped boxes having a carrying handle to palm sized units of widely varying shapes. The most common flashlights have a tubular handle that accommodates the dry cell batteries used to power the bulb, and a reflector housing at one end of the handle that holds the reflector and bulb, with a clear protective lens over the bulb and reflector. A simple switch on the tubular handle is used to activate and deactivate the bulb.
A recent development in flashlight technology is the introduction of a high intensity flash lamp bulb in place of the normal incandescent bulb. These high intensity lamp bulbs produce an intense light beam from a flashlight. The high intensity flashlights favored by law enforcement officers are commercially available from Maglight and Streamlight companies, and produce a light beam of 18,000-candle power. This powerful light beam is most useful in illuminating dark places during daylight as well as for nighttime use. The extreme brightness of the high intensity flashlight beam can sometimes be a liability for a law enforcement officer. When approaching a potentially dangerous situation during low light hours, the use of the high intensity flashlight beam can disclose the officer's position by lighting up the area around the user, as well as generating a bright dot of light showing the origin of the beam. Further, if the user illuminates the nearby ground and looks directly at the illuminated area, the user's night vision requires time to readjust after the light beam is shut off. Additionally, the user can temporarily blind other officers near the user, or silhouette nearby officers with the run off light that is generated by the high intensity flashlight. Although a second low intensity flashlight could be carried and used by law enforcement officers, such an extra piece of equipment is unnecessarily troublesome.
A number of patents concerned with flashlight devices have been granted. Gulliksen et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,225,906, disclose a lighting device with a rotatable bulb holder containing multiple bulbs. Each bulb can be positioned for use in a reflector by rotating the bulb holder. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,130, Elliot describes a flashlight containing a standard bulb and a high intensity bulb, both bulbs mounted in a single reflector, with separate switches for each. Coffman, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,782,432, discloses a rechargeable light having a front mounted spot light bulb with a fluorescent bulb and a strobe bulb, both contained within the transparent housing. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,077,644, Schaller et al. describe a flashlight with one bulb and reflector to produce a spot beam, and a second bulb and reflector to produce a rectangular flood beam. The spot beam is oriented at an angle relative to the flashlight axis. The flashlight is designed so that the spot beam faces in a forward direction and the flood beam in a downward direction. A single switch controls both bulbs.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,097,399, Gammache discloses a swivel head flashlight. The head assembly includes a swivel head arranged for rotational movement about a swivel axis which is disposed at an acute angle relative to the axis of the casing. The swivel head carries a bulb and is asymmetrical so that rotational movement of the swivel head causes the beam of light emitted by the bulb to be directed in different directions. Huang, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,117,34, describes a cylindrical flashlight with a bulb and reflector at each end and a switch to selectively operate each bulb. U.S. Pat. No. 5,217,297 by Yuen discloses a combination lantern with an incandescent bulb and reflector at one end and a fluorescent bulb in a section that rotates through 180 degrees for positioning that bulb.
Bamber et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,258, describes a rechargeable flashlight with incandescent and fluorescent bulbs. A first switch activates the power source and a second switch selects which of the two light sources the power energizes. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,430, Booty, Jr. describes a dual beam flashlight with a primary fixed headlamp and a recessed rotatable secondary lamp energized only in the rotated position. Each lamp has its own energizing system to enable a user to energize either lamp separately or to have both lamps illuminated.
Thus, there is an unmet need for a single flashlight device that provides both a high intensity beam for normal use and a low intensity beam to prevent disclosing the location of the officer. Applicant has invented such a flashlight, and the novel flashlight is described below.